Bridgeport man sentenced in Monroe man’s OD death

By Jim Shay

Updated
12:42 pm EDT, Wednesday, October 10, 2018

A 35-year-old Bridgeport man has been sentenced to three years in jail in connection with the death of a Monroe man in 2016.

Careem Bentley, also known as “C-Lows,” was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford. After his prison sentence, Bentley will have three years of supervised release, for distributing heroin to an overdose victim.

John H. Durham, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, said in a release the matter stems from an ongoing statewide initiative targeting narcotics dealers who distribute heroin, fentanyl or opioids that cause death or serious injury to users.

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According to court documents and statements made in court, on Nov. 23, 2016, Monroe police and emergency medical personnel responded to a residence in Monroe on a report of a suspected drug overdose. At the scene, responders encountered an unresponsive 37-year-old male lying on the floor.

The male was pronounced deceased.

Investigators seized the victim’s cellphone, multiple folds of suspected heroin, and other items, and subsequently concluded that the victim purchased heroin from Bentley in the late evening of Nov. 22, 2016.

Bentley was arrested on April 26, 2017. On Aug. 14, he pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of heroin.

This matter was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Haven Task Force and the Monroe Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito.